What is the difference between passenger ordinary track and high-speed rail track

The track structure is different, the stability requirements are different, the smoothness and precision requirements of the track are different, the maintenance and overhaul cost of the track is different, the permissible gradient of the line is different, and the spacing of the line is different.

1, track structure is different. High-speed rail usually adopts ballasted track bed, which is made of concrete, asphalt or other synthetic materials without gravel laying, while ordinary track adopts ballasted track bed, which consists of gravel laid under the track.

2, different stability requirements. High-speed rail requires extremely high stability and settlement control, because when high-speed trains run on such tracks, even small settlement differences may lead to safety problems.

3, track smoothness and precision requirements are different. High-speed rail track is designed with a larger minimum curve radius, usually above 3500 meters, while the minimum curve radius of ordinary track is usually below 2000 meters.

4, track maintenance and overhaul cost is different. The maintenance and overhaul cost of ballasted track bed is usually higher than ballasted track bed because ballasted track bed requires higher precision and finer maintenance.

5, the permissible gradient of the line is different. The permissible gradient of high-speed rail is much larger, up to 2.5%, while the gradient of ordinary rail is usually smaller.

6, the spacing of lines is different. The spacing between the up and down lines of high-speed rail is larger, which is to ensure the safe intersection of high-speed trains during the meeting. These differences ensure that high speed rail can support the operation of high speed trains while maintaining high safety and stability.